Tag: illustration

The most notable change in design throughout the past decade has to be the rise of flat design, and consequent fall of skeuomorphism.

Anyone who is keeping up to date with the latest design trends will notice that minimalism is in, especially in digital design.

Who better to set the trend than apple! – ios updates are the perfect example of this transition away from realism and detail. Just looking at the app logos and calculator display shown below you can notice the difference instantaneously, and naturally we prefer the updated versions.

I think one reason for this change, other than the general desire for designs to look more ‘clean’ and ‘minimal’, is that consumers have been using technology for long enough now for realism to no longer be as necessary (we don’t need a detailed illustration of a Canon to know how to access our camera).

Flat icons are seen everywhere nowadays and look pretty sharp. They have scrapped the shadows, highlights and fine lines and moved towards bold and simple.

I will be doing lots more research into the subject area as I approach my dissertation because it is one of the biggest things to happen to design and I am fascinated by this search for simplicity.

I am doubtful that skeuomorphism will die eternally but it is definitely being overshadowed by flat designs at the moment.

Near the start of my year at Brandnation I was tasked with creating an illustrative infographic displaying the new company rewards scheme. I was given a specific style of illustration to follow and I am glad to say it is now live on their website.

Working to an existing style of illustration is interesting as people often have their own techniques and styles that they have to abandon for the sake of the job. Nevertheless, after one or two illustrations it became natural and easy. It involved bold shapes, simplistic design and minimal shadows/highlights.

Being restricted to the house fonts (Gotham and Din) and the 4 Brandnation colours allowed my design to fit with their brand easily. It was a fun task and I’m happy to see my own work online after working at the company for such a short amount of time.

I recently stumbled across this rebranding project for Thomas J Fudge’s Remarkable Bakery by Big Fish and particularly liked the illustrative style and contrasting selective colour.

As I am currently working on my own self-initiated branding project I have been doing lots of branding research to see what works and what has been overdone. This old-school drawing style has been uplifted by bright colourful ingredients. With an overall smart, sophisticated look, this brand identity is intricate and effective.

The packaging is image-led, using classic serif fonts and it has a traditional, high-end feel to it. The old portrait-style sketchy drawings and the humour of the oversized, unusual hats creates a light, attractive design. If I saw these products on a shelf alongside the more typical, basic food packaging I would think they looked luxurious and expensive so hat’s off to Big Fish.